Garment-fastener.



No. 853,319. PATENTE'D MAY 14, 1907. A. B. REID.

GARMENT FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1900.

ARTHUR B. REID, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GARMENT-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1907.

Application filed June 20, 1900. Serial No. 20,972.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR B. REID, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Garment-Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had'to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved form of hook and eye.

My object is to provide an improved form of hook in which the bill will be protected so that the same cannot catch in the hair or the garments of the wearer.

In order to protect the bill of the hook, I provide a resilient or flexible tongue which is adapted to occupy a position wherein it will shield the end of the bill and thereby prevent the same from catching in the hair or the clothes of the wearer. I preferably form the hook of a single and continuous piece of material, as wire, bent into the desired form to provide loops or parts whereby the hook may be secured to the apparel, and to provide a bill adapted to. be engaged by the eye and having a portion of the wire bent into position to form a flexible tongue which is adapted to shield and protect the bill of the hook. I preferably arrange the resilient tongue so that the same will protect the bill when the eye is in engagement with the hook, as well as when the eye is withdrawn therefrom, although my invention is equally applicable to a construction wherein the resilient tongue is adapted to protect the bill only when the eye is not in engagement with the hook.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the hook of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. Fig. 3 is a view showing the eye in engagement with the hook. Fig. 4 is a side view of a modification. Fig. 5 is a side view of the modification showing the eye in engagement with the hook. Fig. 6 is a view showing the hook occupying a position substantially parallel to the eye.-

Like letters refer to like parts in the several figures.

As shown in Fig. 1 the hook is made from a single piece of wire bent to form the loops a a at the rear end of the hook and having laterally extending portions or loops 6 b at the hook to the arment or fabric. While I preffrom engagement with the bill.

erably employ parts for fastening the hook to the fabric or other material constructed as illustrated, it will be understood that I do not confine myself to this particular arrangement of the-fastening devices and that any other preferred form may be employed if desired. An intermediate portion of the wire is bent to form the bill a. A portion of the wire is formed into the resilient tongue (2 which preferably consists of side portions or members d d and a transverse portion (2 which is adapted to rest against the under face of the bill c. I preferably form the tongue of the two members lying side by side as thereby the tongue is reinforced and lateral stiffness is imparted thereto. which will prevent the accidental lateral displacement of the tongue during use. The members d d of the hook are provided with upwardly deflected portions (1 and d which form guards to shield and protect the end of the hill 0. These upwardly deflected portions or guards will protect the end of the bill as well when the eye is removed from the hook, as shown in Fig. 2, as when the eye is in engagement with the hook, as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be noticed byreference to Fig. 3 that the eye rests in a pocket formed between the bill and the downwardly deflected end of the tongue d. The tongue thus serves to prevent the unintentional removal of the eye It will also be noted that when the eye is attached to the hook, the downwardly deflected end of the tongue serves to prevent the eye from passing beneath the tongue. When, however, it is desired to detach the eye by moving the eye toward the" rear of the hook the pressure exerted upon the eye will serve to depress the tongue, thereby permitting the movement of the eye out of engagement with the bill and it will be particularly noted that in attaching the eye to the hook by pulling the same in a straight line over the guards, the eye will readily become hooked, and in detaching the same by pushing on the eye it will depress the guards and become unhooked. It will be, observed that the downwardly extending end of the tongue is adapted to move in the space between the laterally extended portions or loops 5 b. This construction permits the height of the bill v to be made a minimum, since the end of the tongue is thus permitted to play in the space between the loops b b. I preferably construct the tongue so that the end thereof, when depressed will not project below the base of the hook, that is, below the lower faces of the parts forming the fastening loops, since this would interfere with the mounting of the hook upon an unyielding surface, as for instance, upon the edge of a garment which 1s provided with a whalebone to stiffen the same. By constructing the tongue so that the end thereof in all positions remains above the base of the hook, the hook may be applied as well to an unyielding surface as to one that readily yields. It will be noted that the loop of the eye f is in a plane angularly displaced with reference to the plane of the shank of the hook which is provided with the fastening loops f f. This angular displacement of the loop of the eye permits the same to more readily depress the resilient tongue and engage the bill of the hook. It will be noted that the wires of the eye which lie immediately back of the loop rest close to- I gether, whereby transverse threads may pass across this portion of the eye to securely bind the same to the fabric.

While I have illustrated the preferred form of eye other forms may be employed if de sired.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated a modification of my invention in which the resilient tongue is adapted to shield the end of the bill i only when the eye is out of engagement with the hook. In this construction the upwardlyextending portions of the tongue are less pronounced than in 2, whereby when the eye is removed, as shown in Fig. 4, the flexible tongue will serve to shield the end of the bill, while when the eye is in position, as shown in Fig. 5, the flexible tongue rests below the end of the bill. The principal object sought is to shield the bill when the eye is not in engagement with the hook, although I preferably construct the tongue as shown in Fig. 2, so'that the same will shield the end of the bill in all positions of use.

It frequently is desirable to so connect the hook and eye that the hook will occupy a position substantially parallel to the eye. Thus, when the hook is to be used for fastening portions of the dress of the wearer which are adapted to lie against the shoulder, it is frequently necessary in order to use a hook for the fastening device to work a special form of eye from threads or similar material adapted to be engaged by the hook a. By employing the hook and eye of the present in-' vention the eye may be secured to the under of the two layers of fabric, as shown in Fig. 6, with the angularly displaced looped 'portion extending toward the hook, and the hook will readily engage with the eye in this position.

l is detached from the bill.

While I have illustrated for the purpose of explanation, one specific construction of flexible or resilient "tongue, it will be understood that the tongue may be variously formed; the essential feature of my invention being the shielding and protecting of the end of the bill of the hook by means of the tongue whereby the catching of the bill in the hair and garments of the wearer is entirely obviated.

It will be understood that my hook may be applied to other uses than that of a hook for garments.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A hook provided with a bill, and adepressible tongue, said tongue having guards upon opposite sides of the end of the bill to prevent extraneous objects fromengaging the bill and a part engaged by the eye, when attached, to prevent the same from passing beneath the tongue and to depress the tongue as the eye is detached from the bill.

2. A hook formed from a continuous piece of material and provided with a bill and a depressible tongue, said tongue having guards upon opposite sides of the end of the bill to prevent extraneous objects from engaging the bill and a part engaged by the eye, when attached, to prevent the same from passing beneath the tongue and to depress the tongue as the eye is detached from the bill.

3. A hook formed from a continuous piece of wire and provided with a suitable part for securing the same in position, a bill and a depressible tongue, said tongue having guards upon opposite sides-of the end of the bill to prevent extraneous objects from engaging the bill and a part engaged by the eye, when attached, to prevent the same from passing beneath the tongue and to depress the tongue as the eye is detached from the bill.

4. A hook formed from a continuous piece of material and provided with a suitable part for securing the same in position, a bill and a depressible tongue, said tongue having guards arranged in-each side of the end of the bill to prevent extraneous objects from engaging the same, and a part engaged by the eye, when attached, to prevent the same from passing beneath the tongue and to depress the tongue as the eye is'detached from the bill.

5. A hook formed from a continuous piece of material and provided with suitable parts for securing the same in position, a bill and a depressible tongue, said tongue having guards upon opposite sides of the end of the. bill to prevent extraneous objects from ens gaging the bill and a part to engage the eye, when attached, andto retain the same under the bill and to depress the tongue as the eye IOC and to depress the tongue as the eye is detached from the bill.

7. Ahook formed from a continuous piece of material and provided with suitable parts i for securing the same in position, a bill and a tongue, said tongue having guards upon opposite sides of the bill to prevent extraneous objects from engaging the bill and a part to engage the eye, when attached, and to prevent the eye from passing beneath the tongue.

8. A hook provided with a bill, and a depressible tongue comprising upwardly inclined resilient members arranged upon each side of the bill to prevent extraneous objects from engaging the same, said members at their forward end being downwardly inclined to prevent the passage of the eye beneath the tongue.

9. A hook provided with a'bill, and upwardly inclined resilient members arranged upon each side of the bill to prevent extraneous objects from engaging the same, the said members having downwardly inclined front ends engaged by the eye,'when attached, to permit the eye to depress the members as the eye is disengaged from the bill and to prevent the eye from passing beneath said members.

10. A hook formed from :a continuous piece of material and provided with loops at a at the rear end andwith loops or laterally extending parts Z) b at the forward end and with a bill c, and said hook having a resilient or flexible tongue consisting of the members d d and the transverse portion d resting beneath the bill and extending forward sufficiently to prevent the eye from passing beneath the tongue, the members d (1 being laterally deflected to shield and protect the end of the bill, substantially as described.

11. A hook made from a continuous piece of wire having a flat base formed from two lengths of wire lying in a common plane and having suitable parts at the front and rear for attachment to the fabric, said wire being bent into a bill and provided with a tongue comprising two parallel longitudinal members passing on o posite sides of the end of the bill at a height to guide all extraneous matter over and away from the .bill and thereby shield and protect the same and having a transverse portion passing beneath the bill to limit the upward movement of the tongue, substantially as described.

'12. A hook provided with a bill and a tongue consisting of two longitudinal members passing upon opposite sides of the end of the bill to shield and protect the same, a transverse portion passing beneath the bill to limit the upward movement of the tongue, the forward end of the tongue being formed to be engaged by the eye and prevent the passage of the same beneath the tongue and to enable the eye to be hooked by a pull and unhookedby a push.

13. A hook formed from a continuous length of wire bent intermediately to form a bill, and a tongue consisting of two longitudinal lengths of the wire passing upon opposite sides of the bill to guide all extraneous matter over and away from the bill, the said two lengths of wire serving to laterally brace and prevent displacement of the tongue, and a transverse portion joining the ends of said members, the forward end of said tongue passing beneath the bill and being formed to prevent the passage of the eye beneath the tongue, whereby the said eye may be engaged with and disengaged from the hook by a simple pull and a push, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I havehereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR B. REID. Witnesses W. CLYDE JoNEs, HENRY W. BELFIELD. 

